Apology to Miners from Becky Rom and Reid Carron

Becky Rom, February, 2017 |
Photo: WDIO, File

October 13, 2017 02:37 PM

Environmental advocates, Becky Rom and Reid Carron were interviewed for a story about the mining community for Sunday's New York Times Magazine. During the interview with Minneapolis-based writer, Reid Forgrave, the couple made some disdainful comments about miners on the Iron Range.

In a statement made to Eyewitness News, Reid Carron and Becky Rom of Ely said:

The New York Times Magazine article about the conflict over proposed copper mines near the Boundary Waters quotes a statement by Reid regarding the mindset of what he called the “pro-mining crowd.” The statement was disrespectful and untrue.

First and most important, the statement is untrue with respect to the thousands of people across northeastern Minnesota who work hard every day and who believe that developing copper mines will provide worthwhile economic opportunities for them, for people they care about, and for our communities. We respect people who get up at 4:30 am to drive to work in Minnesota's taconite mines.

Second, the statement is untrue because it does not reflect what we think.

Living in the Ely community, we depend on people all the time who we know hold a different view than we do on whether copper mining would be a good thing. When we do business with them, they are helpful and generous, and we treat each other with mutual respect.

For Reid to say that people like that are sitting around waiting for a big mining company to give them a job or Becky to question if Dan has been into the Boundary Waters is disrespectful. We apologize for these statements.

The people and the communities in northeastern Minnesota are treasures that deserve to prosper. The Boundary Waters is priceless and deserves to be protected.